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Lend Us Your Ear For the History of tragus

The tragus is the tongue-like projection of the outer ear. Its name comes from the Greek word tragos, meaning "he-goat." According to hearsay, the Greek word was influenced by Peloponnesian tragedy. In this style of drama, satyrs were represented as goatlike creatures, and their prominent ears became associated with a feature of our own human ears. Tragos contributed to the English language in another way as well; it is also the word from which tragedy is derived.